Guide to the Subconscious by Echo Thompson
by JiraiyaWhitney
Summary: "I am not your brother"—Ed glared as hard as he could, building up years of anger at different things and forcing them into his eyes, making Al flinch before he became defiant—"nor will I ever be. I'm just not who you are looking for." Eventual RoyEd
1. Chapter 1

One –

The first thing that Ed remembered as he jerked awake in the familiar bedroom was that he had been on a mission for Madame Christmas. Since two years prior to his going to Germany, he had worked for the woman (discretely of course), and he was now edging on his eighth year working for her, not including the two where he was actually in Germany, putting him at almost twenty-four.

The room around him was small in a way that it was the perfect size for an average sized man or two small children. He could remember spending almost a year and a half (not including that first month) in this room, studying Alchemy, learning martial arts, carefully patching up bruises and wrapping broken bones both on his body and on Alphonse's and he could remember, perfectly, the way that Izumi looked when she had demanded he wasn't her student anymore when he was sixteen in the room adjacent to this one.

He threw his legs over the edge of the bed, standing up easily and stretching both his Automail leg that he had had for six years now (without a single need for a maintenance call now that he cared for it) and his human leg before he turned around and stretched his back, then his shoulders and finally his left arm. He stretched his right one out of habit from his years with a prosthetic and the need to make sure the batteries were charged on it—though now with Automail again, he no longer worried around that.

Ed turned around, making the bed to be as neat and pristine as it had no doubt been before he had been laid in it. He tucked the hospital corners in last and picked up his suitcase from the foot of the bed, taking a deep breath as he stood in front of the closed door. He had to do this; Alphonse Elric had to understand that Ed was no longer Edward Elric and he _couldn't _come back—not after so long—not after what happened.

He gathered up his wits and repositioned his gloved, metal fingers on the handle of his suitcase before gently pushing open the door and shutting it with the knob still turned so that it didn't make that small click noise as he did so. He had no idea what time it was; he just had to get out of this house before he caved in and the last six years of his life became nothingness; no, he wouldn't let that happen again. Not after last time.

Izumi and Sig Curtis looked exactly as they did when Ed was still a child training under them, only now her face had a few laugh lines around her eyes and they also had an older, gentler look to them as she watched little Owen—Alphonse and Winry's son, who looked everything of his father yet acted everything like his mother, except with the cats—run around and play in the linoleum kitchen. You just couldn't ask him how he knew so much about Owen Elric—because, technically, he knew nothing of him and there was no reason for him to keep tabs that broke his heart until he sobbed on his parents, either.

He was sure he might have been able to sneak out of the house unnoticed had Owen not run past him that that particular moment, pulling all four of the people in that houses' attention. He started towards Sig and set down his suitcase, holding out his right hand. "Echo Thompson," he introduced his new life after Sig had taken it. Sig released it the moment that he had finished his name and kept that forced smile that, over the years now, has molded into his real smile with that little glimmer in his eye that he never could make happen before now as he turned to Izumi and held his hand out again, glad when she took it. "I really do apologize but I can't stay much longer; I'm afraid my train will be here soon. However, if either of you are ever in Central, do look me up. I'd be more than happy to get to know the both of you better and thank you for taking me in after I passed out. I'm very grateful."

He picked up his suitcase again, ignoring the confused looks on their two faces as he walked past them and out the store front, making it only halfway down the yard path before Alphonse was chasing after him, yelling "Brother!"

He forced himself not to stall at the word; he forced himself to keep walking. He wasn't Al's older brother anymore; he was Echo Thompson—an only child of a man in Ellis, a small unmarked city not too far from Resembool, who's mother was never around and he had such an uneventful life that he didn't even go on the books until he got the job at the Central University as a Alchemy Professor since between the time he had gone and the time he awoke, the Military had put a band on Alchemy saying you had to be at least a College Freshmen to practice it (openly).

Such stupid laws he could have prevented if he had _just stayed here in Amestris—_but he knew the only way he could have done that was to not get his brother back, and reasoned that some things weren't worth rewinding and redoing.

He sidestepped out of Alphonse's way, watching as the young man stumbled and stuck his hands out, springing into a handspring to catch himself before he spun around and faced Ed again. "_Brother_, where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, _sir_, but I must ask you to step aside for you have me confused with someone else." His voice was calm, his face blank of all emotion like Mustang had done to him years ago when he was in the Military, but on the inside, he was crying out, wishing that he could just say 'I give' and drop his suitcase, pull his brother into his arms and sob that he was so happy that Al never gave up—_but he couldn't do that_.

"Don't give me that load of b-s!"

He blinked in mild shock, careful to keep his face clear of all emotion he felt. "Sir, I'm afraid you have me mistaken for another man. Please, I would much prefer not to be late for my train; may I leave now?"

"Don't do this! You're making Winry cry because you're walking away, leaving us behind you!"

"Look, it's not my fault I don't know you." He snapped. "_I am not your brother"—_Ed glared as hard as he could, building up years of anger at different things and forcing them into his eyes, making Al flinch before he became defiant—"_nor will I ever be. I'm just not who you are looking for._ Sir_. I am asking you one final time. Move out of my way."_

"That's not a question and as such I will not dignify it with an answer." He squared his stance like he used to back when they would get ready to spare, but Ed didn't want to spare. Not anymore. He'd grown world weary long before he turned fourteen. Back then, he had done it to keep up an act he had tired of long before he had started it.

He didn't even bother to move and in a split second, Alphonse was on his knees, clutching his stomach with his right hand and resting his forehead on his left forearm. He spared the man a glance before finishing his trek out of the front yard, each step becoming harder and harder for him to not just say 'fuck all' and turn around, making sure his little brother was alright.

He took a deep breath, reminding himself that he wasn't Edward Elric—Edward Elric died when he was ten and he lost his brother's body—died again when he was eleven and Nina died—died again when he was twelve and became a dog of the Military—died again when he was thirteen and Scar had first appeared before him—died again when he was fourteen and he realized what it took to make a Philosopher's Stone—died again when he was fifteen and he realized that he was in love with a person he was never supposed to meet—died again when he was sixteen and Envy stabbed him through the heart in the literal sense—died again when he was only a few hours older and still sixteen as he gave Al his body and went to Germany—died again when he was eighteen and turned away from Al and Mustang on Eckhart's Blimp—died again the next day when they put the memorial stone in the Military Graveyard—died one final time when the half-empty tombstone was placed beside his mother's tombstone and his father's memorial stone in Resembool the week after that.

He kind of wondered what kind of monster he was now as he continued to walk, slowly, away from where Alphonse Elric had crippled over without a single physical touch from Ed's person. He wondered if this was what his father had felt like as he moved his soul from body to body just to survive a little while longer. He was a monster that never died, but that didn't mean that he had to admit it to just anyone. He was his own monster—not an immortal monster, mind ye, but a monster nonetheless.

He was so swarmed in his thoughts that he almost missed the car that drove up and pulled over at the curb in front of him. Gracia Hughes smiled at him from the driver's seat, but it fell when she saw his expression. Feeling guilty, he looked away and to the backseat, smiling gently as he saw an out-cold Maes holding his seven-year-old daughter to his chest, the top of her head nuzzled against his cheek. They were both out.

"I suppose I should be thankful that you found me, Glacier-sama," he greeted, not mistaking the way she glanced over her shoulder and knew in an instant what had happened without him ever uttering a single word. "Though I must admit that I am fully ashamed of myself that I made such a wonderful lady as yourself wait for a man of my status. Truly, it is unsightly."

"Oh, no, it's alright Echo-sama," she waved her hand at him and motioned for him to open the door. He did so, settling his briefcase against the front of his seat so that it would be tucked behind his calves when he sat. "Is there a reason why Winry is crying?" He turned and hesitated outside the door, watching as Winry sobbed, her hands still on Al's shoulders while Izumi, Sig and Owen looked on, confused in the men's case and curious in Izumi's.

He stepped in, shrugging his shoulders and speaking loud enough so that they would hear him, "I have no idea who that is so I wouldn't know."

He heard Al's "fucking bastard" murmur just before he shut the door and he couldn't help but shut his eyes in sorrow as they started driving and he buckled blindly.

"Did you find the information that Madame Christmas sent you down here for?" Her voice was low and he knew without looking that she was glancing back at Maes and Elysia as they slept peacefully. No one could know about their _real _jobs—the ones they used their Professor status' at the University to hide from the public eye.

He felt himself take a deep breath, leaving his eyes closed as a tear trickled out of his left eye, down his nose and stopping, midair about an inch above his hand. "And so much more than I ever want to admit to anyone, including myself."

There was a moment and Gracia was pulling him closer, kissing the top of his head in her motherly way. Ed smiled gently, and thanked her quietly. Sometimes, she knew just what he needed to keep from crying. Other times, she did exactly what had to be done for him to cry more. This time was a latter option, but he managed to use that second of calm to dry his eyes and straighten his back.

"So, when are we due back? I'll drive when you get tired."

She smiled politely at him for a second before looking back to the road. "No offense to you, Echo-sama, but I would like to get back to Central before then."

He smirked to himself. "I concur. But the offer is open as long as it happens sometime after five minutes has passed."

"I think we'll be fine. I know a shortcut."

"And I can get us there in a millisecond."

"Sometimes, it's nice to just watch the scenery, Echo."

"I know; which is exactly why I'm not bothering to get us there any faster than what you want us to go."

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry."

"What ever for?"

His voice broke, shaking as he spoke, and he felt those tears he had quelled but a few seconds ago break loose, even after he shut his eyes. "_Everything_."

* * *

a/n - This will (probably) be a slow updating story and it's really just a test run. Plus, I've also got _RJE_ I want to try to finish relatively soon _and _I have other stories to work on as well as my book. :) So, if you like, please review! I can't wait to see if you guys like it or not. And I hope it's not confusing, but if it is, tell me! I'll remember to put it in future chapters. And typos and stuff, yeah, _please _tell me, its 0021 hours over here and I really don't want to go through this again. And I'm pretty sure that it'll be RoyEd in the end… somehow… I'm still working this out. This is like a "preview" chapter. Thanks! ~Love, JWhitney!


	2. Chapter 2

Two –

After he'd stopped crying—he was glad that Gracia didn't push or prod to make sure he was ok like she did back when he was still living by Edward Elric—they'd managed to make it back to Central in a little under an hour. He would never ask how Gracia had managed to make a two day trip in that little time staying ten miles below the speed limit since he knew he had secrets he couldn't tell his partner either, but sometimes he really wished he knew how she worked.

Maes and Elysia hadn't stirred once since they first pulled away from Izumi's yard. That reminded him of waking up in her back room, but he couldn't remember passing out or being knocked out or anything, so it was weird how he ended up there. And what was Al doing there, anyway? With his wife and son? He knew for a fact that Pinako and Den were both still alive, but just barely so. Then again, he knew a lot of things. Most of it was nothing he hadn't already known before, but nowadays it was getting deeper into something he was being kept so far out of the light that it was ridiculous how little Christmas trusted him.

But when he looked around and saw the other confused looks from his coworkers, he was ok with not knowing since he wasn't the only one and he wasn't being discriminated against because he had unwillingly disappeared for two years. Christmas knew everything about Germany—he had had to tell her. She was his only link to his life as Edward Elric, and he couldn't seem to let it go, no matter how much he tried. He'd even taught a few of his closer coworkers German so that they could speak without code and not have to worry about anyone figuring out what they were saying. Gracia was one of them.

He shook his head and asked her to pull over and let him out. "Are you sure, Echo?"

It was almost disturbing how quickly she switched from 'Edward' to 'Echo' after he come back and they were "reintroduced". She had cried then, too, holding her hands in front of her face for a moment as he shifted his head and offered her a small smile, telling her his name was Echo Thompson, he already knew who she was and that he hated to see it when a beautiful woman cried so _please_ don't cry. "Yeah," he smiled at her. "Samantha's house is up the way a bit and I need to get Kathryn."

"Of course. Tell them both I say hi and I send my love."

"I would have done that even if you hadn't asked," he grinned, weakly, and thanked her again as he climbed out, making sure not to forget his briefcase, which he tucked at his right side gently. She smiled back and wished him a good night, telling him she'd see him tomorrow before he nodded, closing the door. Through the glass, he could hear Maes mumble something that sounded close to 'Ely'. Gracia glanced in the back and smiled warmly before driving off as he waved.

He turned around and walked up the stairs into Samantha's and his apartment complex. They didn't live together, heavens no, but this was the closest housing district to both their jobs and it really helped that Kathryn and Sam both got along since Kathy _loved _(and he meant _**l**__-__**o**__-__**v**__-__**e**__-__**d**_in bold letters) to listen to stories more than Sam loved (_**l**__-__**o**__-__**v**__-__**e**__-__**d**_in bold) to read and reiterate them.

Pretty soon he'd made it up to the third story and looked at the numbers on the doors without needing to. He knew exactly where he was going; his mind just did it for lack of anything better to do as he walked. 326 came up quickly and he stood in front of the door, knocking quietly with his left hand since he wasn't sure if Kathy was asleep. If Sam was, too, then he would just go to his apartment and not bother waking either of them.

A moment later Scheizka opened the door and smiled warmly, gesturing him in. "How was your trip, Echo?" She asked as he gently placed his case down to the right of the doorway.

"Ah… interesting," he shrugged, smiling warmly at her. "I met these odd people. I believe they called themselves Alphonse and Winry Elric? They had a son named Owen."

"Oh," her eyes dimmed slightly and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close even though he was a few inches taller than she. "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok," he muttered quietly into her brown hair, relishing the hug. "Gracia sends her love. How was Kathryn? I hope she wasn't too much of a hastle…."

"Oh, no, never." She giggled, pulling away. "We just finished listening to a story about the Full Metal Alchemist and how he so bravely rushed into the field and stopped the bloodshed of the second Ishbal Rebellion before it even started."

Despite leaving that life behind, he still blushed gently at the smile she gave him. Nowadays, she wore her brown hair around the bottom of her shoulders, though that small flick of hair on her forehead from her still-short bangs that remained. Her brilliant green eyes were hiding behind her large glasses instead of behind contacts like she normally wore. Since it was so late at night she had on a pair of pale yellow pants and a thin spaghetti strap white shirt which did nothing to hide her shoulders. Yes… shoulders…. That's what they call them now, right?"

He laughed gently and rubbed the back of his head. "Don't put too many ideas into my little girl's head, y'hear?"

"There's nothing there she didn't already want to know."

"That's the part that scares me." He pointed out with a slight grin as a tired yawn came from the hallway. He turned to watch as a young five year old girl came out. Her vibrant red hair hung around her shoulders and her right green eye was open as she rubbed the other with the back of her hand. Her face was mottled with red freckles and the moment her tawny skinned face turned towards him, she broke into a large smile and exclaimed "Daddy!" running towards him.

He kneeled down and caught her in his arms. She giggled as he shifted his human arm under her legs pressing her green night dress to the bottom of her small thighs. Instinctively, Kathryn wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled him. "Daddy, did you have fun while you were out?"

"It would have been so much more fun if you had been with me, Kathy," he cooed and kissed her cheek, smiling at her giggle.

"Me and Aunty Sammy had _so much_ fun!" She cheered. "We read lots of books 'bout Alchemy an' she told me about the Full Metal Alchemist an' the Flame Alchemist an' the Strong Arm Alchemist an' _lots_ more!"

He smiled, more so at the names than her excite about them. She let out a long yawn right after it and he laughed at how excited she was to get tired. "Sounds like you two had _lots _of fun. You tuckered yourself out."

She smiled sleepily and rubbed at her eye again, hooking her arm around his neck again. He turned to Scheizka again and gave her his best grateful smile. "Thanks so much for taking care of her as often as you do."

She waved her hands at him, shaking her head. "It's really no problem, Echo, honestly. I love spending time with her."

"Yeah but the more time you spend with her, the less you have to be alone with your boyfriend." Even though he hadn't yet met the man, he knew that whoever he was would be ok around Kathryn because this was _Scheizka _(Samantha now) that he was dealing with. Over these past few years, she'd gained a great deal of self-confidence and would throw someone out of _her house _if they did something she didn't like or if she felt threatened. She could also yell and curse at the man in six or seven languages now (including German).

So, in other words, he was fine with her boyfriend no matter who it was.

"It's alright," she smiled. "He really likes kids." Her face heated up bright red and she shifted uncomfortably. He didn't need her to say what he knew it was and instead reached out, resting his right hand on her shoulder.

"So when should I expect the wedding invite?"

She stuck her tongue out at him and scrunched up her nose. "Well, he's moving in tomorrow, so you'll have to decide when you come down and meet him."

There was something in her eyes. Something that told him she meant "remeet" instead of "meet" and he couldn't help the shoulder slump. "We'll see. My schedule's kind of full for the next few weeks between midterms and the munchkin."

"Munchkin!" Kathryn giggled, throwing her hands into the air for a moment before putting them back around his neck. "You should really meet Mr. Kain, daddy! He's really nice. He plays games with me all the time. He's almost as fun as you are, daddy."

"Sounds like I'll like him," he muttered, turning towards Scheizka. She smiled guiltily and shrugged her shoulders, pulling him into a hug, which he returned one-armed.

"Have a nice night you two."

"You too, Sam." She grinned and her eyes twinkled while she nodded. He suddenly realized the real reason behind the shirt and nodded his head. "Tell him I say thank you for looking after Kathryn, too. I really do owe you both."

"Just don't get hurt on this mission," she waved her hand at him. "Kathryn would never forgive you."

"Now why would I get hurt?" He asked, cocking his head. "A sprain compared to what those other guys get is not an injury."

She blanched and started walking towards the hallway. "I don't want to know!"

"Thanks again!" He called and grabbed up his briefcase, smiling at the wave she sent over her. He flicked off the lights and stepped out, closing the door gently. Just as it was starting to click shut, he heard Scheizka call out "You're not one, you know!"

He paused and reopened the door, facing her. She was leaning against the front of the hallway with a gentle smile on her face, looking at him like he was a puzzle she'd long ago figured out and was proud of herself for doing so. "I'm not one what?"

"A monster," she explained.

He felt his face fall in on itself as he stared at her, wide eyed for a moment then shamefully and finally, unable to bear the gentleness in her eyes, he looked at the carpet. "How did you…?"

"You had that self-doubt look on your face when you came in." She answered. "You're not a monster, no matter what you think. You're a young man raising his daughter and doing what he hopes and knows to be the best for her. You're a loving man worth everything he gets, no matter how much he doesn't believe so."

He looked up with a small smile on his face. Although the words touched him in a way that he was glad that she believed in him, he didn't believe them for a single moment. He'd done too much; seen too much; knows too much. He just… he was a monster. It was never how other people saw him but how he saw himself and he saw himself as a monster.

He still forced himself to thank her, closing the door as Kathryn shifted in her near-sleep state, hugging onto his neck as he dropped the briefcase, reached up and got the spare key off the door fringe, locking the door for her and returning the key to its hiding place.

He picked up his 'case and started walking back to the stairs, going up one more story. His steps were brisk and he passed by a man he didn't bother looking at to identify until he stood outside his own door. 420 stared at him as he shifted the briefcase into his left hand, careful to hold Kathryn more so than the luggage and ready to drop it if Kathryn started to slip so he could catch her.

"Hey, daddy," her voice was small in his ear, but he still turned his head to look at her. He felt her lift one of her arms from his neck and point to something behind him before she finished, "that man looks like the Flame Alchemist from the pictures that Aunty Sammy showed me."

He blinked and turned around slowly, finally finding his keys in his pocket. Obviously the other man had either realized they were talking about him or felt one of their stares on his back since he paused and stood up straighter, turning around and blinking in the dim, flickering hallway light.

Now that he was faced towards him, Ed could make out the four gleaming stars on his shoulder pads marking him as a General rank. The ribbons on his chest marked him a Brigadier and Ed couldn't help but smirk as he recognized the black hair tossed in every direction both neat and messy at the same time. Two onyx eyes stared back at him and blinked slowly and he almost looked as if he'd seen a ghost. "So he does," Ed smiled at her, taking 416 to mind as he glanced at his room number. "What else did Aunty Sammy tell you?"

Mustang blinked again and smiled gently, barely noticeable in the crappy hallway light, nodding his head a little as Kathryn told him, "she said that the Flame Alchemist is gunna be the best Fuhrer _ever_ and that there are _lots _of pe'ple that wanna see him Fuhrer!"

Ed smiled down at her and shook his head at Mustang's red ears as he stepped inside his apartment. "Yes, Kathy… there are lots of people who want to see him there."

She grinned at him as he unlocked the door, pushing it open. "Do you want to see him there?"

"Yeah," he admitted quietly as he took the key ring from the door, walking in. "Yeah, I want to see his dream accomplished."

* * *

Ed stared at himself in the mirror.

His hair was short like he'd kept it when he was a child of barely 7 years except for his bangs, which he still kept to have something to hide behind when he was flirting (or gathering information, except he used it to flirt much more often) but he rid of the antennae long ago; people called him out on his appearance when he has it and it's too dangerous for that. On his chin was the markings of a small goatee and his side burns weren't all that impressive. On the bridge of his nose rested his glasses, which were half framed from the bottom rather than the top.

He wore a white button up shirt under a dark brown vest, paired with his light brown jacket and pleated brown slacks. He'd liked the outfit back in Germany and when he had found himself wound up back here six years ago, he couldn't help but find himself looking for the same outfit for his work in the stores. Of course, he had other clothes he could wear, but this was the most comfortable and being a Professor at Central University required you to be _very _well dressed. Unless you were a woman, at which point Dean Tringham (Russell if you must know) didn't much mind.

The door to the bathroom, which hadn't been closed in the first place, creaked open a little farther and Kathryn gave a shy smile as she opened the cupboard, using the shelves to climb up onto the granite countertop. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a thin black shirt. She reached up and handed him a ponytail holder asking "Can daddy braid my hair?"

"Sure." He smiled and took the hair band with his left hand. "How do you want it to look?"

"Like Full Metal Alchemist used to have his!" She giggled. "It's dress-up-like-your-hero day at school, so I'm gunna go as him! One day, I'll be as good at alchemy as he is!" Her eyes twinkled as she stared up at him and he knew right then and there that she knew he was living a lie.

"Did Aunty Sammy tell you?" He asked quietly.

She nodded her head, paused, and then shook it. "Mommy told me too," she muttered quietly. "But even if she hadn't, when Aunty shows me those pictures she has, I know it's you. I don't tell anyone that you're the Full Metal, because you don't tell anyone, but I still think that it's cool you're Full Metal."

He smiled gently and kissed her temple. "You are a very smart girl."

Her smile split her face, showing where she had lost her left canine tooth. "Aunty says I take after the Full Metal like that."

He laughed and turned her around, gently taking her hair in his hands and very carefully braiding it, watching her face closely for any signs of discomfort—especially when he used his right hand. He didn't want to hurt his little girl. "How come daddy's hair is yellow when my hair is red?" She asked as he was wrapping the hairband.

"Because you have your mommy's hair."

"My friend has her mommy's hair." She smiled up at him. "She's my book buddy since she's _seven_! Her daddy has really dark hair like the Flame Alchemist, only a little bit lighter on the sides since there are streaks of gray and, um… oh yeah! And then she's really pretty she looks just like her mommy! I know 'cus' I've seen her picking her up sometimes. She's so pretty!"

"I bet. I think you rub off on anyone that comes near you," he joked, nuzzling her forehead with the tip of his nose. She giggled and he quickly kissed her head. She wrinkled her nose up at him for a moment before reaching out and grabbing a little of his hair gel and molding her bangs to look like his, only she took a small piece and flicked it up like he used to have his antennae before washing her hands of the goo and climbing down. She rushed out of the room and he followed slowly, turning off the light as he went.

When he got into the main room, he noticed that she had a long red duster on and was still fixing the shoulders slightly. On the ground in front of her was a small array that would easily take her thick red coat and make it into a thinner duster. "How often do you do that?"

She just gave him a cheeky grin and kneeled down patting the array away before holding her hands up. "Now I have gloves, too!"

He laughed and took her hands in his, pulling his gloves out of his pocket and slipping them on over her hands. They were oversized, but her eyes still glittered as she stared up at him before holding them to her chest, wiggling happily. Ed smiled again and reached out, taking her hands again, watching her blink as a bright blue flare passed between them and the gloves had shrunk down to her size.

With a new pair of gloves on his hand, he slowly shut the door, watching as his little girl bent her knees, looking around suspiciously even as she held the straps to her backpack close to her body. He watched her a moment before turning around and locking the door. She slowly began to creep away.

"What are you doing?"

She gave him her smile again, showing her missing tooth as she explained, "Playing Full Metal Alchemist! Shh"—she held her finger up to her lips looking around slowly—"there are tons of bad guys looking to capture us around!"

"Ok," he whispered and kneeled down. "So what's the plan?"

"What plan? Aunty Sammy always said that the Full Metal rushed into things 'head first and without thinking of the con-se-quences,' whatever that means. She said it means he didn't use a plan."

He laughed at himself as she grin and crept down the hallway, looking back and forth carefully as 416 opened and out stepped a Military clad man. He ignored him and shook his head, standing up and repositioning his hold on the briefcase. "Sheesh, Kathryn, with the way you're acting you'd guess I never play with you."

She gave him a bad look and shushed him again. "Alphonse! Stop making so much clacky noises! You're gunna tell the bad guys where we _are_!"

Ed laughed into his hand and shook his head. "Alright, _Edward_, where are we going?"

"Preschool!" She giggled.

"Preschool it is."

* * *

Brigadier General Roy Mustang sat in his desk at his office around eleven thirty without a single piece of paperwork to be seen for a few desks (meaning it was either to be inspected by Havoc or waiting to be turned in by Hawkeye) with a gentle smile on his face as he doodled small swirls on a piece of copy paper.

Kain Fury watched him for a while before he finally got the courage to ask "what's got you in such a good mood, sir?" They were the only two in the office at the moment, so the satin haired man jumped, completely unaware of the younger man's presence or not suspecting the silence to be broken.

"What do you mean, Fury?"

Kain smiled at him. He looked the same as he had years ago; they all did, really, except for Hawkeye who was on her second month of pregnancy with her and Jean's baby, though everyone had yet to learn mind him. "I mean… you have this air around you that you haven't had since the EAR* six years ago. I know you saw Edward there and that's what made you happy, but what is it now?"

Mustang smiled a little and looked down at the paper below him for a moment before looking back up. "I just overheard part of a conversation last night, that's all."

"What happened?"

"A young child recognized me as the Flame Alchemist and told her father that there were a lot of people who want to see me Fuhrer."

Kain smiled at him. "You're getting back on your dream, I take it?"

He nodded. "I'm going after being Fuhrer again, yes."

Havoc walked in and plopped down in his seat, tapping out a cigarette and holding it to his lips, leaving it unlit for the moment. There was a comfortable silence between the three of them as the other two got to work and Roy returned to drawing his swirls that were starting to look a lot like his explosions somehow….

"Yo, Chief," Havoc said after a good two or three minutes. He looked up from his swirls, but Havoc kept right on looking at his work. "We never gave up on your dream."

He let his mask slip and smiled to himself before looking back to his swirls. "Get back to your work, First Lieutenant."

"Yessir."

* * *

a/n – so I posted the first chapter of this story and tried to get back to my other writings/editings and found I just. Couldn't. Do. It. So I worked on this one. Shameful, I know, but I like the way this turned out. :) ~Love, JWhitney

* EAR - Eckhart Air Raid


	3. Chapter 3

Three –

Ed spoke loudly to his chalk board, using his left hand to draw out the equations he was saying without really knowing what he was saying. He knew all of this since he was a child; he didn't have to know what he was saying to know what was right.

There was a pause as he switched paragraphs in his lecture where he reached out his right hand, touching the small array he kept drawn on the bottom corner of the chalkboard. He walked away, leaving the chalk there and continued speaking as it drew itself along the wall.

One of his students, Miss Grace Pride, waited behind after class had ended for a moment and stared at the now empty board as though she was solving a puzzle. He looked up at her as she slowly walked down the steps to the board, seeming confident in herself.

She wore a light yellow sundress with darker orange spots covering it and cradled her alchemy books to her chest as she tucked a strand of her short blonde hair out behind her ear and out of her blue eyes. "Is something amiss, Miss Pride?" He asked, watching her stare at the board.

"I've been your student now for two years, Professor," she explained, not looking at him. He supposed that was probably a good thing since he was giving her a _no-shit; thank you captain obvious _look. "And I think I finally figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

"At the beginning of both years, you challenged us to figure out how you write on the board with the chalk without ever touching it."

"I do remember that."

"Well, that array on the board looks like a simple answer, but it's a Ground Elemental array and doesn't hold enough strength to keep the chalk up nearly as long as you do."

"So?"

"So you use two arrays. The last one is on the back end of the chalk; that's why you use only one end; it's an Air Elemental that cushions the chalk on helium to keep it up and oxygen to keep it down. With a simple move of your fingers, you can get it to write exactly what you want it to."

He smiled at her and nodded his head. "Very good Miss Pride. In my six years of teaching here, you are the only person to ever figure it out."

* * *

Ed sat back in his chair, letting his brown fedora rest in his lap as he smirked at Scheizka and Gracia. The former had her hair up in a tight bun like all the cliché librarians do (for the kicks of it or for her date tonight, he didn't care to find out) and her light green, short sleeve v-neck shirt fit her a lot better than the baggy old thing she had worn back when he was younger, going with her green skirt better, too. The University's librarian held her hand in front of her mouth as she laughed, wishing she hadn't taken a drink of her water when he'd told the joke.

Gracia was doing the same as Scheizka. She wore a light, sun bleached shrug over her green sundress and her reading glasses were beside her salad on the table. They'd all gotten the salad today, so Ed's hand was leaning gently on the table next to his plate, watching, bemused, as the two women tried to calm down.

There were a few of their students in the small café they'd decided to eat at and he couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the looks they were getting from them all. To them, they were emotionless Professors (and librarian) bent on pushing as much information into their minds as possible before Midterms and Finals. And the librarian was too smart to follow sometimes, talking like she was in the Military to herself oftentimes.

"You done laughing yet?" He asked, smirking to himself as he watched the women calm down. "It really wasn't that funny. It wasn't even a _joke_."

Scheizka just smiled at him. "Oh, that was pretty funny, Echo, whether you meant it to be or not. I mean, you called Kathryn _Edward_! What'd she do after that?"

"Clapped her hands and put them against my legs, saying that Al was supposed to call Ed 'brother', told me I was bait and I couldn't move until I called her that. So I clapped my hands and touched my legs before chasing her down the stairs."

"Is that why she was shrieking of laughter when I left this morning?" The brunette giggled and rolled her eyes, taking a bite of lettuce.

"Or maybe it was from her remembering what she caught you and your boyfriend doing last night."

Her face was so red that she had to sit up straight and hold her hand in front of her nose to make sure it wasn't bleeding. "We didn't do _anything _while she was there, Echo!"

He arched his brow. "_While _she was there? Naughty girl."

"_Echo_!"

He laughed, holding his hand in front of his face as their students looked at them for a moment before returning to their conversations. A bell that was above the door jingled, telling them that someone was there, but none of them looked over at whoever it was as they went to the counter.

"How _is_ your boyfriend, Sam?" Gracia asked, looking at Scheizka.

"Ah, he's good."

"We were talking about mentally and physically, not in bed," Ed chastised, watching her heat up all over again. He laughed and shook his head. "That was bad; I'm sorry; totally horrible."

"You _think_!"

Gracia laughed watching them. Scheizka filled the silence by taking a few bites, which Ed decided was a pretty good idea and did the same. A familiar voice caught their attention as it asked "Gracia? Is that you?"

The three of them turned their heads to where a blonde woman with her hair clipped up in the back and over her forehead stood with a small bag under her arm. She wore her Military uniform (skirt version, surprisingly) and she looked _exactly like she had when he was in the Military. _

"Oh, Riza, I didn't recognize you for a second." Gracia smiled warmly, "You put your hair up again."—_Again? How often does she leave it down now? No! No! You don't know her! You're not Edward Elric!—"_These are a couple of my colleges. This is Samantha Watson and this is Echo Thompson. Sam, Echo, this is Captain Riza Hawkeye."

Riza was staring at him the entire time she was introducing them. Ed finally forced himself to smile and stood up, holding his hand out for her. She took it, letting him lean over and kiss the knuckles like he had been taught to. "It's an honor to meet you, Captain."

"Please," she smiled, and it was weird to him but obviously normal to the other two so he managed to hide it under his false-turned-real smile. "Call me Riza."

"Well then it's an honor to meet you, _Riza_." The name sounded foreign on his tongue, but he brushed it off, taking his seat again and fixing the fedora in his lap. "It's an honor to finally meet you myself. Gracia here talks of her friends all the time."

Gracia blushed gently as Riza looked at her, but Ed offered her a sympathetic grin. There was a pause before Riza turned to him again—or maybe it was just his imagination that there was that pause because she had been looking at Scheizka for a moment and it almost seemed as if the two of them spoke—and apologized, explaining, "You remind me of someone I used to work with."

Gracia gave her sobering smile and muttered, quietly, "Yes, he looks a great deal like Edward, doesn't he?"

"Very much so."

Ed looked between them for a moment before shrugging and giving a sigh. "Sheesh, you grow up in a little town isolated from all the other towns around it with absolutely no way to get news and suddenly you're left out of _everything_."

Riza examined him with curious eyes. "You've never heard of the Full Metal Alchemist?"

He hummed and searched the ceiling for a moment, making a show of thinking about it before shaking his head. "No, not at all. Or at least, not that I can remember. I might have at one point, but I tend to not press anything into my mind if I don't find it important… that and I'm horrible with names."

She smiled at him for a moment. "I don't believe I've met anyone who didn't know of the Full Metal Alchemist. Anyway, it would be a pleasure to see you again sometime, Echo, was it?" He nodded. "You have a very unique name."

"My father was a very eccentric person," he explained. "And I would be honored to be in such a lovely woman's company again. I look forward to a reencounter with you."

She turned and bid adieu to the other two, explaining that she had to get a couple of people in the office their meal before they died of starvation, leaving with a small smile. Ed watched for a moment before he muttered in German, "Sehen jemand wusste ich so wenig sollte nicht so viel verletzt...*"

Gracia gave him a sad smile and placed a hand on his metal shoulder. Although he hadn't felt it, he could see her moving his hand out of the corner of his eye, so he turned and offered her a small smile. She smiled back and muttered, "Any time the pain becomes too much, you just have to tell someone."

He smiled at her. "I know." _But I won't ever do that because Edward Elric doesn't exist anymore. Why don't you people understand that? What is so hard to understand? I can tell you that in German, Aerugen, Xingese, Cretan, Ishbalan, Ancient Xerxes _and _Drechmen, too! _

She smiled back. "We're always here for you, Echo."

"Well, Sam here seems to be busy half the time with her boyfriend." He smirked and looked at the mentioned woman. She glowered, red faced, and kicked her feet, managing to miss both his legs.

* * *

Roy walked into the small deli around four that afternoon on his break. Madame Christmas had told him that there would be an informant waiting for him there, but aside from what looked like a few college students silently chatting to each other. There was a single table where a young man, about their age but with a look to his tarnished gold eyes that made him seem twenty years older, leaned back, twirling his brown fedora's "brim" on his right middle finger, using his index to keep it going.

He recognized the man and couldn't stop his legs from moving over there and leaning over the back of one of the chairs. "You're the young man from across the hall in my apartment complex, are you not?"

The man looked up from his hat, clutching it between his fingers for a moment before a small grin touched his face and he stood up, holding his right hand out. "Brigadier General Mustang; I've heard a lot about you. I'm Professor Echo Thompson." The young man waited until after he had taken his hand to murmur, quietly, "I was beginning to wonder if Chris had forgotten to tell you that I've gotten your information."

The grin that touched Roy's lips was genuine and he took the chair that Echo gestured to, sitting down and leaning forward while the man pulled his hat from the table and put it on the edge of his suitcase. "Do tell, Thompson."

"Why so formal, General?" He smirked. "Echo is a much better name."

"Then you can go ahead and call me Roy."

"Well then, Roy, before I begin, may I ask a question of you?"

"Most certainly."

"Why are you looking for information on Dublith and the actions Fuhrer Grumman himself has placed there?"

Roy smirked and linked his fingers together, resting them in an arch under his nose. "Perhaps I'm a little curious as to why he would be moving cadets to such a small, quiet town."

"And perhaps you know there's something you weren't told?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. "It appears there's something none of us were told."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

There was a pause and Echo looked around, shaking his head. He knew what that meant—there were too many people overhearing their conversation. He could tell that, too, but the gears behind Echo's creepily familiar eyes were turning and suddenly something changed, a sweep of emotion and they were distant, withholding all information they held. "Oh, I don't know, something about Fuhrer King Bradley being a homunculus," he shrugged. "Ridiculous, right?"

They both chuckled, but for a second he could have sworn he'd heard something in the younger man's voice that went along the lines of _knowing _Bradley was a homunculus. He knew that this man worked under his mother, but, then, the man would have to have been working for her for at least eight years now, and his mother wouldn't hire someone so young. At most, he was only twenty-four or –five.

Ah, yet, this was his mother they were speaking of, now wasn't it? She was full of secrets that no one would ever know.

"Truly preposterous," he agreed, shaking his head, looking for something to change the subject to. He remembered the flash of the conversation he'd heard from him and that young girl the night before. Hadn't she called him 'daddy'? "Your daughter seems to be quite the fan."

Echo shrugged. "It seems as if she has to idolize the worst State Alchemists there ever were."

He brushed off the comment at his own person in favor for someone much more important at that point. He knew that the young girl had dressed up as Edward that day and he'd even gone so far as to pretend that he was Alphonse so they could play! "I'll have you know that the Full Metal Alchemist is a very esteemed man and there is not a person in the world that…." He stopped, glaring at the man's hand roll.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Sorry, look, I'm just tired of everyone talking about him. Sure, I get it, he's esteemed and people want to be his standards one day, but don't you think it ever gets annoying when you walk down the street and the only things you hear are ever about the Full Metal and what he could be doing at the moment if he were alive? Or about how much you act like he had? Or how much you look like him? Or how much potential you have to be _better _than him at Alchemy?"

"I take it you're faced with that day in and day out?"

"It's _horrible_," he stated, shifting in his seat and resting his right elbow on the arm of the deli's chair. "Hor-ri-ble. Truly, I understand all of that, but _it gets annoying_."

Echo's accent was slightly familiar in the back of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried to place it, there wasn't nearly enough of it in his words to pull out a specific place in his mind. It could just be the lingering of him speaking a foreign language earlier that day, too.

"You do look stunningly like him, Echo," Roy explained. "You can't expect others to not comment on it. It's almost uncanny how much you look alike."

Echo just rolled his eyes and pinched the skin between his eyebrows together with his right hand. "Not you, too." He groaned quietly, making Roy chuckle gently.

* * *

Half an hour later, Echo seemed as if he was readying to leave. From his seat, he could see the reflection of Havoc walking in, looking around for a moment in a shinned vase. Hidden tarnished eyes split off from his onyx ones to glance up in Havoc's direction and he shifted again, this time straightening his back. "Ah, one more thing. I met Edward Elric shortly before he was placed under MIA eight years ago," he told him. "He asked me to tell you something if I were to ever meet you in person."

"And what's that?"

Echo shrugged. "He told me '_shitty bastard Colonel, why the hell are you sitting around on your ass when you have a country you should be running?' _said you'd know what he meant."

Roy felt himself smile genuinely and he spoke softly, "When was the last time you saw Full Metal?"

"I never met Full Metal," he corrected standing up as Havoc came over to the two of them. "I met a young man named Edward Elric two hours before he ran off in a hurry and got in a car and asked me to tell you that. Now,"—he pulled his hat on with practiced ease, tilting it forward slightly—"it was truly wonderful getting to know you, Roy." He reached into his jacket, pulling a piece of paper from there that looked to be nothing more than a business card and he held it out for him to take, which he did. "I look forward to doing that again." He picked up his briefcase, walking away as Havoc stopped beside the table.

"Was that…?"

He watched the young man leave the store with briskness to his walk. "It's not Edward, if that's what you're going to ask. Edward died a very long time ago, you know. His name was Echo Thompson; he grew up in Ellis."

"That small city outside Resembool? No he didn't."

"Why do you refuse that?"

"That's my hometown and I think I'd remember growing up with him."

Roy just offered him a grin and stood up. "He's a good ten years your junior, Havoc; you may not have noticed him since you were so much older than him."

Havoc shook his head and muttered "I doubt that" before watching the man walking out of the building.

Roy flipped the paper in his hands for a moment before unfolding it, arching his brows. "What is it, sir?"

"Nothing, Lieutenant. I take it Hawkeye wishes for my presence?"

"Yessir."

"Let's get going," he said, folding the page down and slipping it into his pocket.

_Grumman is planning to find a way to open a Gate to where the EAR disappeared to and retrieve Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist. It'll end up with millions dead; _stop him.

It was a lie. The handwriting told him that much.

_Beagle's back_, Roy told himself inwardly.

* * *

Ed sighed, looking up at the sky with a tilt of his head. Clouds were starting to gather together and they looked dark, but not quite dark enough to rain yet. "Bah, damn weather," he muttered, walking forward again. "You always seem to tempt me with the chance of rain when I truly wish it would."

Wordlessly, he reached up and cleared the corners of his eyes of the tears that had gathered there after he had stepped away from Roy and Havoc—and the pull at his old life.

* * *

A/n -

* Sehen jemand wusste ich so wenig sollte nicht so viel verletzt... – Seeing someone I knew so little shouldn't hurt so much...

I want to thank anyone who stayed this long with me. I know it's been a long wait but my zipdrive has been missing a long time, but I have now found it (obviously) and plan to take great care of it! Thank you! Please say *small voice*. ~JWhitney


	4. Chapter 4

Four –

Ed's world was dark. He liked it that way before Jeannette died. Jeannette had been a wonderful, beautiful woman with long flowing red hair and beautiful green eyes that were expressive in all the ways she wanted them to be so you could get lost in them so easily it just didn't make sense—but only if she wanted you to.

Jeannette had been a wonderful woman that had taught and trained Ed how to work under Christmas for three months and Mustang had been nonethewiser. Even though he was their number one client, he didn't know that his own subordinate had worked for her! He was truly oblivious to some of the more important things!

Jeannette was his baby girl's mother. He'd never slept with the woman before since right after he'd finished his training, she'd moved to East City Slums (right after Mustang and his crew were transferred to Central too) and become a... he wanted to say "Woman of the Night" but even that was too vague for the truth. In the end, one of her "customers" (he hated the thought that she sold herself for sex just to put bread on her table) had gotten her pregnant. He didn't know who the bastard was, but if he did, he had sworn that he would go right up there and sock him in the jaw for not taking responsibility for his _child_ after Jeannette was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

But then he had found out that he was her baby's God Father and gladly took in Kathryn. At the time, she was only three months old. He didn't care that they weren't related by blood; she was his daughter and he was her father.

After he got his daughter, he liked a light world. The moment he first held his baby girl, everything had changed. He'd cried and sworn to himself that he would never let her be hurt. No, that wouldn't do; he couldn't let her be hurt. And she was a strong girl, but that made everything that much harder.

But now his world was dark again. He had to face people that he loved (he used the term loosely with a few of them _Hawkeye) _and cared for as a teen and now wasn't supposed to know. Every time he saw them, he wanted to hug them and tell them how much he missed them (except Mustang, _of course, _because that would give him more room to gloat) and what had happened in Germany.

He couldn't. And it made him want to cry. He insisted that Edward Elric wasn't alive (because, damn it all, he _fucking_ wasn't _alive!_) so why didn't his mind want to agree to that? Why did his body insist on torturing him with tears?

There was a slight squeak and he forced himself to blink, taking in a deep breath as he propped himself up on his left elbow, looking over his shoulder at his door, where a thin trail of light from the hallway was filtering in around a little girl who looked frightened. "Daddy?" Her voice shook dangerously, like she had been crying earlier but didn't want him to know.

"Yeah, baby girl?"

"Can I sleep with you?" She sniffled lightly and he watched her hand come up and wipe at her face, even if it was obscured by the darkness. "I had a bad dream."

His heart warmed as he thought about his little girl and how he was the first person she sought out when she was scared and suddenly, his problem with the people of his past didn't seem so bad. "Of course, love," he muttered, rolling over. "You can turn on the light if you want to."

She shook her head and just left the door open (with the hallway light on) climbing up onto the other side of his bed and snuggling close to him under his blanket to stay warm. He let his right arm come out over the top of her head comfortably with his left hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles into her skin. There were a few moments as she wiggled up and finally rested her head against his metal arm.

"Honey, that's not a very comfortable place to rest your head," he murmured, quietly, trying to tell her that it was hard and it could make her head hurt in the morning and if she wanted to lay on his arm, then he would roll over so she could be on his comfortable arm.

She refused and her arm came up, resting on the metal in front of her face. "I don't care."

"But I do. I don't want my arm to make you wake up with a lump on your head or your neck hurting."

"But it's your arm."

"I know, that's why-"

"No, daddy, it's_ your_ arm." She explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I know it makes you sad sometimes, but it's your arm. Just like that's your leg and that's your nose,"—she giggled softly and poked the tip of his nose—"So your arm won't hurt me. I like your arm. It's pretty."

He smiled and leaned forward, pressing his lips to her forehead for the longest time.

"Daddy, why you crying? Are you hurt somewhere?"

"No, honey," he muttered quietly, pulling her close "No, I'm not hurt anywhere, love. Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me, Daddy? I didn't do anything."

"You did the most wonderful thing in the world, honey."

"What daddy?"

"You helped me remember why I'm here."

"Huh?"

"You helped me understand myself."

"I don't get it…."

"It's something you'll get when you're older."

"Daddy!"

"It is, I promise."

"Ok." She yawned and leaned close, tucking her forehead against his chest. He let out a small sob and finally understood why it was his father had cried in the only family picture they had of him, Al, Hoenheim and his mom.

And he didn't blame him for a moment of it as he calmed his breathing and shut his eyes, relishing in the beat of his daughter's heart against his body before he drifted off.

* * *

He smiled, sitting back on the bench and watching as Kathryn chased the birds away from the jungle gym and jumped out, grabbing hold of the monkey bars and swinging to the next one. Halfway through, she let go and dropped on her bum. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but she was already climbing to her feet in the sand and dusting her light blue jeans off, turning to him and smiling, holding up her unscathed hands. He smiled back, letting his posture relax as she got back up and went straight back to the monkey bars, making it halfway before falling again. She repeated it two more times, falling at the same spot each time before she looked over and saw someone, waving her hand excitedly.

He followed her line of sight and watched as Elysia waved back and ran as fast as she could down the hill, bulldozing her into a large hug, making Kathy squeal in delight, hugging back.

Someone moved over and sat beside him, but he didn't have to look to see who it was. He already knew. Maes worked weekends now; all Generals did—it didn't matter that he'd been put into a coma by the gunshot to his lung for him to get that rank they wouldn't demote him no matter how much he asked.

"You know, for looking everything of you, she acts everything of Maes."

Gracia giggled at him. "She looks more like Maes, Echo."

"You're blind."

There was a pause and he smiled watching Kathryn brave the monkey bars one last time and make it all the way across. There was an expression on her face and she pumped her fist once before stopping and making it look like it was ordinary and mundane. "For not being her birth father, she sure is your daughter."

Ed's smiled widened as he watched her clap as Elysia made it without having to stretch her arms as hard as Kathy had or really having any difficulties at all.

"I haven't seen you smile like that since you were twelve."

His smile dropped and he furrowed his brow, looking at her with a tilted head. "When you got your State Watch," she explained. "You were so ecstatic and since then, you've been closed off, not letting anyone see your emotions. What changed?"

He smiled warmly at the memory of last night and turned to watch as Kathy clapped her hands together and held them to the ground. Elysia threw her arms in the air, yelling something like "Brother! Your Alchemy!" before Kathy did it again. Elysia quickly clapped her hands and pressed them to the sand, but when nothing happened then, they looked at each other with fearful eyes and turned, starting to run from an invisible threat.

"Kathy said something to me last night that made me realize that I'd spent all my time moping around, trying to understand something that couldn't be understood."

"What's that?"

"Love."

There was a silence before Gracia looked at him, curiously. "How…? Can you explain that to me, please?"

He smiled wider and shook his head.

"How come?"

"You can't explain the inexplicable," he told her. "It just doesn't work that way. You don't bother trying, either, because that just wouldn't make any sense."

"What kind of love?"

"Paternal, family, self and something else I can't explain. I don't want to explain it, though, and I'll be happy to tell you that I don't particularly care to know what it is."

Gracia watched him for a moment before smiling down at him. "I think I understand."

"Ah, at least that's one of us." He chuckled.

* * *

Maes raked his hands through his hair, letting out a desperately needed sigh of air as his shoulders slumped. He just needed a breather for a few moments. His little girl had grown up so fast and although he hadn't been seen in almost a decade, she had never grown out of calling him "Big Brother Ed". He knew because just last night as they sat at the dinner table as she explained a story of what she did that day with her friend Kathryn that she played "Big Brother Ed and I got to be Daddy and get him lots of information!".

It was a normal game for children Elysia's age to play called Full Metal Alchemist and pretend to be him but Kathryn was a little young and she seemed to know more about the young boy (no, he would be, what now, twenty-five? _Young man; _they grow up so fast) than even he or Elysia or Gracia knew. It was like the girl knew him personally, but she couldn't; she was five at most and the last time he had been spotted was six years ago at the EAR but he'd been there for ten minutes at most and he had been fighting.

That just made this all that much more complicated as it meant that Ed _could _be alive somewhere; anywhere. He had been thought MIA, then KIA after a few months with no word from him and after two years there he goes and returns. Making things difficult again. Why did he insist on making simple things complicated? There were some questions never to be known to their answers….

"Maes," he blinked at the almost-familiar deep tenor voice and turned at his name. A man with shorter than short blond hair and bangs to frame his face smiled shyly at him, his eyes carefully cut off behind glasses. There was a forced glimmer to his eyes to make him look happy that he was sure anyone without his trained eye would see as happy, but he recognized the glimmer from Roy. He used to have that before he tried to off himself in Ishval… wow; that was almost fifteen years ago. Time sure does fly, doesn't it?

"Yes?"

He came up and sat beside him, giving him a guilty smile. "You don't know me, but I know you." He explained. Maes let him go on without further prompting. "I'm a colleague of your wife, Gracia. Echo Thompson. She speaks fondly of both you and your daughter Elysia."

So this was the young man that Gracia spoke of so often. Echo Thompson was a common name in their house nowadays and had been for a few good years now. He seemed to hear 'Echo' as a character to hide 'Edward' by his actions in day-to-day life, but there were significant differences—for one thing, Edward wouldn't have the patience to teach to any age group, for another Edward was a dead man.

He realized the silence was because of him as Echo ordered one drink and got back something bronze-ish on the rocks. "Ah, my wife speaks often of you, so I don't know how much you know about me but I know quite a bit about you."

His eyes glinted over with something that not even his trained eye could catch what emotion was there. "Oh, trust me; I probably know a lot more about you two. Anyway, you're worrying her."

Maes felt his eyebrows rise of their own accord. The young man was about the age Ed would be, but if he was a Professor then it definitely couldn't be Edward. Edward was independent in his thoughts and actions and teaching people had to do with dependency and not to mention that he had met Kathryn the day before when Elysia was coming out of school. Echo and Edward were so far different from what he heard and what he's seen so far that it almost hurt to think about them as the same person. "Care to explain?"

"Ah," he smiled again, but it was fake still—he kind of wanted to see what his real smile looked like. There was a pause as they both took a drink of their drinks, his bourbon stinging his throat for a second at the sudden swig. "She called me earlier and asked me if I knew where you might be since you were supposed to get off hours ago or something." The blond man beside him shrugged. "She's really worried about you, but I figured you might be here. I've seen you here a couple times."

"You come here regularly? Well then, I apologize for us not being able to meet in person sooner."

Echo shook his head and gestured over to a corner near the employees' only door. "I'm usually over there. Single man and all."

Maes clapped his hand on his shoulder with a smirk. "You'll get there eventually, my friend."

Echo turned and smirked. "Gracia thinks I should date one of her friends, but I don't do blind dates. Mind asking for me who it is she wants me to date?"

The brunette couldn't help but smirk and chuckle, shaking his head. "That's my Gracia for you. She's always looking out for people close to her."

"Don't I know it?" Echo muttered quietly. "She's a wonderful woman, you know. You're lucky to have her."

"Luckiest Man on Earth."

"Then why are you worrying her like this?"

Ah, guilt trip. Fuck, he fell for it. "I don't know," he rested his hand on his forehead, taking off his glasses for a moment. "I just… I need a breather."

"Everyone needs to breathe, Maes." The other man pointed out. "Let me guess, anxiety attack?"

"How can you tell?"

"Gracia and I have gotten close since I moved here." He explained. "I've always been good at reading people. I can tell in the way she smiles that she's tired of something. Anything come to mind?"

"I don't know if you want an old man like me to moan to you my problems."

"Bah, don't worry about it." Echo smiled at him, shutting his eyes this time so that it almost seemed as if it was real, but Maes knew. Oh, he knew. "I've got nothing better to do; you guys stole my daughter away for a sleep over. I'd be happy to listen to you."

"You sure?"

"I'd rather help someone in person than do it by grading papers any day. If you want, you could write it down and I could read it over like that. Possibly fail you though, so I wouldn't recommend it."

Maes couldn't help but laugh at the mirth in the man's voice as he spoke. "Alright, alright, fine. I feel like my job is keeping me from my family. I work atrocious hours _and _weekends. My little girl is so big that she's starting to look at boys and I didn't realize it."

Echo cut him off there, smiling gently. "You feel like you're not there for her and are watching from the sidelines as she grows up."

He nodded mutely, blinking away the tears from his eyes before lifting his hand under them, wiping at the corners.

"Sometimes, that's the best we can do for them." Echo continued, but his eyes were distant, remembering some time or place else as he spoke. "In this world and this time, we have to let them grow and make mistakes. It's not like we sit them down and tell them what they can or can't do, 'cus' they'll still do it anyway. Pay attention to the next time she needs a hug or gets hurt or gets scared or something—she comes to you, doesn't she?"

There was a silence and Maes felt his heart warming as he smiled. "Yeah; you're right. She does. My baby girl still needs me…."

"You're her father, she'll always need you." Echo chuckled, looking at him with warm eyes. "It's whether or not you think you should help that matters. There will be times where there won't be anything you can do but to sit there and hold her."

Maes smiled again. "Thanks Echo. I needed to be told that."

"Don't thank me. It's something my little girl reminded me of not too long ago. Go to your house, hug your wife, tell her you're sorry for worrying her and go hold your daughter before she's dating behind your back."

"She better not date behind me back. She's not allowed to date until she's twenty!"

Echo laughed and shook his head. "Do me a favor though, alright?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Don't look for truths. They always lead to lies."

"If you aren't aware of this yet, my job is to look for the truth in lies."

"Perhaps a career change is in order then. You did say you want to spend more time with your family."

"Is there a particular reason why I should stop doing my job?"

"I can't go on," he side-glanced at him. "I'm afraid someone asked me to keep it secret and if I were to tell… let's just say it's a matter of national security."

"Is there a reason why Fuhrer Grumman would trust a secret within you even though you're civilian?"

Echo just turned and smirked a toothy grin. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sir. I apologize."

"Don't," Maes waved his hand at him. "I understand completely. I think I'm going to go home and do what you said now."

"Have a nice night, Maes."

"Thanks for listening, Echo."

"Anytime." As he climbed off the barstool and turned to leave, not nearly drunk enough to be tipsy, he heard the man behind him turn to someone and ask "When do you suppose Gracia's going to tell him she's pregnant?"

"That's her choice, Echo." The bartender chuckled.

He turned around and turned back to Echo. "Gracia's pregnant?"

"I said no such thing." There was a glint to his eyes and a pull to his mouth from what he could see in the man's slim profile.

His wife is pregnant. _Yes_! He rushed home.

* * *

Echo settled down in his living room that night with a groan, letting the small couch cushion his weight for a moment before he heard the phone go off. He groaned sadly and stood up, slouching over to it and holding it to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Edward my boy!_"

"You are _fucking lucky _to be the Fuhrer. Otherwise, I would have hung up on you, old man."

"_Yes, I am honored to have this position. I thought Mustang would take it for sure and yet he didn't."_

"Spare me the details. What do you need?"

"_Get out of your house."_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"Get out. People will be coming for you soon."_

He narrowed his eyes, looking at the wall in front of him. "How soon is soon?"

"_They should be there within the hour._"

"Why?"

"_They believe you've been spreading rumors that the Military was corrupted under Bradley."_

"You know as well as I that it was. Fuck this, give me a straight answer. It's too late at night to dissect your words."

"_Beagle's shown up."_

He squared his shoulders. "Sir, I'm afraid you have the wrong number. No one by Edward lives here. Have a nice night." He listened to the chuckle on the other end before hanging up the phone and moving into the back room, changing into a black shirt and leather pants, hooking on his pocket watch to his brown belt before opening up the window and slipping out.

* * *

There was pounding on the door across the way. Roy groaned and wiped a hand over his face. Fucking hell, why was there someone pounding on a door like that?

He rubbed his hand against his eyes and looked at the clock. It was fucking 11:42 at night, what the hell?

He unlocked his door and peeked out to see what was going on. Three men in Military uniforms were pounding—fucking _pounding_—on Echo's door and yet no answer would come to them.

"What's going on here?" He asked, when they finally paused.

One of the people in the back turned around to look at him. "General, sir. I didn't realize you lived here."

"Fury, what's going on here? It's midnight; why are you pounding on Echo's door?"

He looked at the other two, neither of which Roy recognized, and slipped away from them, coming towards his apartment door. "I'm not really sure, actually." He muttered quietly once he was far away enough. "I was called in by General Pakoto and he ordered the Ice Shard Alchemist, Iron Knuckle Alchemist and I all here to retrieve someone named Echo Thompson."

General Pakoto was one of Maes' vast number of subordinates. If Pakoto was ordering something to be done, then Maes would know and more oft than not, Roy would to. Maes would have told him since the man knew where he lived and all even if it was TP—Maes would have told him some coats were coming at the least. Not to mention that Ice Shard and Iron Knuckle both sounded vaguely familiar as that they were instated as State Alchemists not too long ago but just long enough for him not to care. "Did he tell you under what terms?"

Kain shook his head. "He said that he was wanted for questioning under a Top Priority case, but he wouldn't go on any farther. I didn't get any time to question his actions since he already knew where this man lived and all—plus he's Maes' General…."

"Did he mention anything that sounded weird? Anything at all?"

"Ah… he mentioned his dog under his breath."

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean 'his dog'?"

"Well, he cursed his beagle."

He sighed for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Echo won't be there."

"Do you know where he might be?"

There was a silence before Roy met his subordinate's eye and told him, "Fuhrer Grumman wouldn't appreciate it if I told you."

Kain nodded once. "Have a nice night, sir."

"If it helps any, I think that he said something about going to that café Fritz place down a few blocks around 11:30. You must have just missed him."

"Thank you, sir," Kain's face lifted in a smirk for a second before he saluted. Roy returned it before Kain was turning around to talk to the other two as he shut his door and rubbed his eyes, going to go get dressed.

This was not turning out to be a good night.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi guys! As most of you are aware, is closing shop.

This is just a courtesy note that my stories are also available at AO3 and on Tumblr, both of which have the same name to them.

Both of my files are new on each of these platforms, so I haven't gotten around to uploading what I have on this website yet, but I also have homestuck stories on the both of them. I would really appreciate it if you look them up! If you have any questions, feel free to message me on Tumblr or AO3 (if that's possible; I haven't figured it out yet).

jiraiyawhitneyFANFICTIONISAD OUCHEANDWONTALLOWDOTStumblrD OTcom

archiveofourownDOTorg /users /JiraiyaWhitney


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